





ee 


te 
‘) 
ne 





From the Library of 
Arthur Hill Daniels 
Professor of Philosophy 
Actins President 1933/34 


Pres PR Lels 


6007 
.E3 
P4 
1923 





Al f = - 


i 


Return this book on or before the 
Latest Date stamped below. A 
charge is made on all overdue 
books. 


University of Illinois Library 


ft 
~ He 
yeh Shatt 
é Lae 
ve 








eR 
C2 


5 
oP 





M32—30715 





PEAGOGRK. PIE 


BY - THE: SAME: AUTHOR: 


COLLECTED POEMS 
IN TWO VOLUMES 
THE LISTENERS 
ACHILD’S DAY 
MOTLEY 


O O O 
O O 
O 





LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
URBANA 








TILLik: 





PEMGOGR. PIE 


91 Book of Rhymes by 


ALTER. DE IA MIRE 
with illus strationss by 


W-HEATH ROBINSON 





*He fold me his ae :  eISAAC “Wal TTS 


HENRY HOLT AND GOMPANY | 
NEW YORK 


The author’s thanks for permission to 
reprint many of the Rhymes in this 
collection are due to the editors of the 
Nation, Rhythm, the Odd Velume, 
Country Life, Fry’s Magazine, the 
Poetry Review, the English Review and 
the Westminster Gazette. ‘Andy Battle’ 
is taken from The Three Mulla Mulgars. 


Abril, 1923 


GBI 


D366 p 


14 


Oo +» 


/ *~ 
A+ a 





CONTENTS 


UP AND DOWN— 


THE HORSEMAN . 
UP AND DOWN 
MRS. EARTH 

OLD SHELLOVER 
ALAS, ALACK! 
THE BANDOG 

JIM JAY. . 
THE DUNCE : 
I CAN’T ABEAR 
SOME ONE 
CHICKEN 

BREAD AND CHERRIES 
HAPLESS . 

THE LITTLE BIRD 
MISS T. 

CAKE AND SACK 
THE BARBER’S . 
THE SHIP OF RIO 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
UP AND DOWN—continued. 
HIDE AND SEEK . : : : : : Sones 5 
TICLE ene : ; : : : : - nes 
THE HUNTSMEN : : : , ; iru39 
TIRED TIM : : ; : ; : : 4 AO 
MIMA : : ; ; : ( : , eel 
THE CUPBOARD . : ; : 4 2 : AZ 
BOYS AND GIRLS— 
THEN : : : : : ; ; : a0 
THE QUARTETTE ’ ‘ ; } : : | AQ 
POOR HENRY. " : : , : . eso 
THE LOST SHOE . ; é : ; ; : aoa 3 
FULL MOON : é : . : : ‘ ESO 
THE TRUANTS . : : : : , : ya ie, 
THE WINDOW . , : : A : ; ce OL 
MISTLETOE , : ; : : : 3 pees 
THE BOOKWORM . : ; : : 4 pie! 
THREE QUEER TALES— 
BERRIES . . ; Sit Gee wilh Se GAARA NOO 
OFF THE GROUND : ; A . . . 2 
THE THIEF AT ROBINS CASTLE, : : - oon 7e 
PLACES AND PEOPLE— : ; 
A WIDOW’S WEEDS. : Pi SER say 
*SOOEEP!? OEE dei! oe ete) nny tae « en 
THE LITTLE GREEN ORCHARD ER he a aE 


Vill 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
PLACES AND PEOPLE—continued. 
THE OLD HOUSE : : : ° . bs nO? 
POOR ‘MISS 7’ . : : : eRe aos 
SAM : : ; : ; : : : OT, 
THE LITTLE OLD CUPID 5 : , : : . I00 
MRS. MACQUEEN 1 : ; s : : TOR 
ANDY BATTLE . ; : ; : : : perOR 
THE OLD SOLDIER : 5 : : A ‘ Lies, 
THE PICTURE. : i. : : ; : SE 1OO 
KING DAVID : : : : ; : , Sing 
BEASTS— 
FIVE EYES : i ‘ : ‘ ; : sa Bh ye 
UNSTOOPING. ‘ ; : ; : ; SOLE? 
NICHOLAS NYE F 3 ; : 3 : . 118 
ALL BUT BLIND 2 : : : : : 120 
GRIM ‘ , : : : , . : we 2e 
THE PIGS AND THE CHARCOAL-BURNER . 4 : wel22 
TIT FOR TAT : : : : : : : SU IZ4 
SUMMER EVENING : ; : : : ; S126 
EARTH FOLK, : ; ; : 5 ; pl 27 
WITCHES AND FAIRIES— ie 
LONGLEGS : ; : ‘ : ve ’ a 
THE RIDE-BY-NIGHTS . : s 5 : : Heh tb 
THE RUIN. : : - ; : : ‘ e135 
BEWITCHED : ; - ‘ 4 : ; embete 
MELMILLO : ; ; : : : i e139 


CON TEN hs 


PAGE 
WITCHES AND FAIRIES—continued. 
PEAK AND PUKE : ; : : : : . 140 
THE OLD STONE HOUSE Rint s 5 5 ; 143 
THE CHANGELING : : : : : ; . 144 
AT THE KEYHOLE re. es : : : : . 146 
THE HONEY ROBBERS . : 3 3 ; ; Ah Fly 
THE MOCKING FAIRY . : : : : : . 149 
EARTH AND AIR— 
MANY A MICKLE : A ‘ : : 2 ai S3 
TREES : : 4 : ; ‘ - ; ey! 
NOBODY KNOWS : : ; ; : ; a Me, 
SILVER. ; ; ; : : é ye) 
WILL EVER? ; : : : é : : a0100 
WANDERERS : : ‘ : : : : . 163 
SONGS 
THE SONG OF THE SECRET . 4 ! ; : . 167 
THE SONG OF SOLDIERS A ; ; : . 168 
THE BEES’ SONG : : : . 169 
A SONG OF ENCHANTMENT . : : bet hep 
DREAM-SONG ; : : ‘ : rae 
THE SONG OF THE MAD PRINCE. : : : 5 IPAS 
THE SONG OF SHADOWS : i ; : ; AGEs 
THE SONG OF FINIS . ; : : . : . 178 


* 
UP AND DOWN 





PEACOCK URE 


THE HORSEMAN 


I HEARD a horseman 
Ride over the hill; 
The moon shone clear, 
The night was still; 

His helm was silver, 
And pale was he; 

And the horse he rode , 
Was of ivory. 





‘DNIVERS! 





UP AND DOWN 





UP AND DOWN 


Down the Hill of Ludgate, 
Up the Hill of Fleet, 
To and fro and East and West, 
With people flows the street; 
Even the King of England 
On Temple Bar must beat 


For leave to ride to Ludgate 
Down the Hill of Fleet. 


5 


PEA CO @CK 4h re 





MRS. EARTH 


Mrs. Eartu makes silver black, 
Mrs. Earth makes iron red, 

But Mrs. Earth can not stain gold, 
Nor ruby red. 

Mrs. Earth the slenderest bone 
Whitens in her bosom cold, 

But Mrs. Earth can change my dreams 
No more than ruby or gold. 

Mrs. Earth and Mr. Sun 
Can tan my skin, and tire my toes, 

But all that I’m thinking of, ever shall think, 
Why, neither knows. 


6 


UP AND DOWN 





LAR 







Yj, 


~S 






) 


y) 
ZZ 
CZ, 
F 





y 





| 
y 

7 Z 4 
UGS 


Zi); 
; 
, 
an 
ss a\ i 


4 
FS OTN 
pea 


Py 


UD 








g 
: 


if} 
1) 


( 
( 





( 
\ 


| 





O.nREATN RemrHteeD. 


OLD SHELLOVER 


‘Come!’ said Old Shellover. 

‘What?’ says Creep. 

‘The horny old Gardener’s fast asleep; 
The fat cock ‘Thrush 

To his nest has gone, 

And the dew shines bright 

In the rising Moon; 

Old Sallie Worm from her hole doth peep; 
Come!’ said Old Shellover, 
‘Ah!’ said Creep. 


7 


PEACOCK. PIE 


ALAS, ALACK! 
Ann, Ann! 


Come! quick as you can! 
There’s a fish that talks 
In the frying-pan. 
Out of the fat, 
As clear as glass, 
He put up his mouth 
And moaned ‘Alas!’ 
Oh, most mournful, 
‘Alas, alack!’ 
Then turned to his sizzling, 
And sank him back. 





UP AND DOWN 





THE BANDOG 


Has anybody seen my Mopser?— 
A comely dog is he, 

With hair of the colour of a Charles the Fifth, 
And teeth like ships at sea, 

His tail it curls straight upwards, 

His ears stand two abreast, 


And he answers to the simple name of Mopser, 
When civilly addressed. 


II 


PEACOCK PIE 





JIM JAY 


Do diddle di do, 
Poor Jim Jay 
Got stuck fast 

In Yesterday. 
Squinting he was, 

On cross-legs bent, 
Never heeding 

The wind was spent. 


12 


UP AND DOWN 


Round veered the weathercock, 
The sun drew in— 
And stuck was Jim 
Like a rusty pin. . 
We pulled and we pulled 
From seven till twelve, 
Jim, too frightened 
To help himself. 
But all in vain. 
The clock struck one, 
And there was Jim 
A little bit gone. 
At half-past five 
You scarce could see 
A glimpse of his flapping 
Handkerchee. 
And when came noon, 
And we climbed sky-high, 
Jim was a speck 
Slip—slipping by 
Come to-morrow, 
The neighbours say, 
He'll be past crying for; 
Poor Jim Jay. 


13 


PEACOCK PIE 


THE DUNCE 


Wry does he still keep ticking? 
Why does his round white face 
Stare at me over the books and ink, 
And mock at my disgrace? 
Why does that thrush call, ‘Dunce, dunce, dunce!’ 
Why does that bluebottle buzz? 
Why does the sun so silent shine ?— 
And what do I care if it does? 


14 








i 


i 





iN) tl 
ii 
| 


a 
—————————— 

———— 

=) a 

7° 

x. 





UP AND DOWN 





CAN’T ABEAR 


I can’t abear a Butcher, 
I can’t abide his meat, 
The ugliest shop of all is his, 
The ugliest in the street; 
Bakers’ are warm, cobblers’ dark, 
Chemists’ burn watery lights; 
But oh, the sawdust butcher’s shop, 
That ugliest of sights! : 


17 


PEACOCK PIE 


SOME ONE 


SOME one came knocking 
At my wee, small door; 
Some one came knocking, 
I’m sure—sure—sure; 
I listened, I opened, 
I looked to left and right, 
But nought there was a-stirring 
In the still dark night; 
Only the busy beetle 
Tap-tapping in the wall, 
Only from the forest 
The screech-owl’s call, 
Only the cricket whistling 
_ While the dewdrops fall, 
So I know not who came knocking, 
At all, at all, at all. 


18 





9 


I 





UP AND DOWN 





CHICKEN 


wo 
Geen 
as 
OQ, sy ee 
eet aac 
fap sapere 
at, avr 0) 
—< ee 
Og |-5 
Pale 
aoe Uo CS ey 
ast Oe tric) 
fe Sl cae) 
Ont cy 
SS ty 
ot Oe & 
Pee Bsa 
Ooo .e 
Oo O.8 4, 
as ¢ a 
ome Ss 
™ O04 
Se i E 
PO gemer 
Slsishon ae 
S306 
Cen) aoe 


Bantams sleek and small, 
Like feathers blown in a great w 


ind, 


s call. 


? 


They came at Bessie 


21 


PE AG OCR re 


BREAD AND CHERRIES 


‘CHERRIES, ripe cherries!’ 
The old woman cried, 
In her snowy white apron, 
And basket beside; 
And the little boys came, 
Eyes shining, cheeks red, 
To buy bags of cherries 
To eat with their bread. 


'22 








rs 
2 
mi Sa 





Meedbalh) 


9 
Se 
3 
make 0) 
eae 
* 
5G 


a, 
Cots 
« 
ra 
nad 
te 
3 


= 
tid 
me 
Ung Rio 
ayy 





=f 








2 : 
sont 


SEAN, fe 


5) 









Be) 
head 





23 


ee 


a. 


p 





UP AND DOWN 





HAPLESS 


Hap tess, hapless, I must be 

All the hours of life I see, 

Since my foolish nurse did once 

Bed me on her leggen bones; 

Since my mother did not weel 

To snip my nails with blades of steel. 
Had they laid me on a pillow 

In a cot of water willow, 

Had they bitten finger and thumb, 
Not to such ill hap I had come. 


25 


PEACOCK. PPE 





THE LITTLE BIRD 


My dear Daddie bought a mansion 
For to bring my Mammie to, 
In a hat with a long feather, 
And a trailing gown of blue; 
And a company of fiddlers 
And a rout of maids and men 
Danced the clock round to the morning, 
In a gay house-warming then. 
And when all the guests were gone, and 
All was still as still can be, 
In from the dark ivy hopped a 
Wee small bird: and that was Me. 


26 


UP AND DOWN 





MISS T. 


It’s a very odd thing— 
As odd as can be— 
That whatever Miss T. eats 
Turns into Miss T.; 
Porridge and apples, 
Mince, muffins and mutton, 
Jam, junket, jumbles— 
Not a rap, not a button 
It matters; the moment 
They’re out of her plate, 
Though shared by Miss Butcher 
And sour Mr. Bate, 
Tiny and cheerful, 
And neat as can be, 
Whatever Miss T. eats 
Turns into Miss T. 


27 


PHACO CK PEE 


CAKE AND SACK 


Op King Caraway 
Supped on cake, 
And a cup of sack 
His thirst to slake; 
Bird in arras 
And hound in hall 
Watched very softly 
Or not at all; 
Fire in the middle, 
Stone all round, 
Changed not, heeded not, 
Made no sound; 
All by himself 
At the Table High 
He’d nibble and sip 
While his dreams slipped by; 
And when he had finished, 
He’d nod and say, 
‘Cake and sack 
For King Caraway!’ 


28 
















RSs => a : ORS 
ZZ 3 





fur, 









4 
MY 
¥ 


aa 
ae 


i i , 
PY 4 9 YY 
a i Kt 
! Ot 


Bs 
J . 


| 
gates, 
wots y 


* 
‘. 






29 





605 Bates 
poe oe 908 ° 
COU sear te coe 
29 2008 su. 0 


THE BARBER’S 


Gotp locks, and black locks, 
Red locks and brown, 
Topknot to love-curl, 

The hair wisps down; 
Straight above the clear eyes, 
Rounded round the ears, 
Snip-snap and snick-a-snick, 

Clash the Barber’s shears; 
Us, in the looking-glass, 

Footsteps in the street, 
Over, under, to and fro, 

The lean blades meet; 
Bay Rum or Bear’s Grease, 

A silver groat to pay— 
Then out a-shin-shan-shining 

In the bright, blue day. 


31 





PEA CO CKPWE 


THE SHIP OF RIO 


THERE was a ship of Rio 
Sailed out into the blue, 

And nine and ninety monkeys 
Were all her jovial crew. 

From bo’sun to the cabin boy, 
From quarter to caboose, 

There weren’t a stitch of calico 
To breech ’em—tight or loose; 

From spar to deck, from deck to keel, 
From barnacle to shroud, 

There weren’t one pair of reach-me-downs 
To all that jabbering crowd. 

But wasn’t it a gladsome sight, 
When roared the deep-sea gales, 

To see them reef her fore and aft, 
A-swinging by their tails! 

Oh, wasn’t it a gladsome sight, 
When glassy calm did come, 

To see them squatting tailor-wise 
Around a keg of rum! 

Oh, wasn’t it a gladsome sight, 
When in she sailed to land, 

To see them all a-scampering skip 
For nuts across the sand! 


22 





33 





UP AND DOWN 





HIDE AND SEEK 


Hipe and seek, says the Wind, 
In the shade of the woods; 
Hide and seek, says the Moon, 
To the hazel buds; 

Hide and seek, says the Cloud, 
Star on to star; 

Hide and seek, says the Wave 
At the harbour bar; 

Hide and seek, say I, 
To myself, and step 

Out of the dream of Wake 
Into the dream of Sleep. 


35 


PEACOCK “PIE 


TILLIE 


Op Tillie Turveycombe 
Sat to sew, 

Just where a patch of fern did grow; 
There, as she yawned, 
And yawn wide did she, 
Floated some seed 

Down her gull-e-t; 

And look you once, 

And look you twice, 
Poor old Tillie 

Was gone in a trice. 

But oh, when the wind 
Do a-moaning come, 

Tis poor old Tillie 

Sick for home; 

And oh, when a voice 

In the midst do sigh, 

Old Tillie Turveycombe’s 
Floating by. 


36 


ml i y 








UP AND DOWN 
THE HUNTSMEN 


THREE jolly gentlemen, 
In coats of red, 
Rode their horses 
Up to bed. 


Three jolly gentlemen 
Snored till morn, 
Their horses champing 
The golden corn. 
Three jolly gentlemen, 
At break of day, 
Came clitter-clatter down the stairs 
And galloped away. 









pa a) 


TIRED TIM 


Poor tired Tim! It’s sad for him. 
He lags the long bright morning through, 
Ever so tired of nothing to do; 

He moons and mopes the livelong day, 
Nothing to think about, nothing to say; 
Up to bed with his candle to creep, 

Too tired to yawn, too tired to sleep: 
Poor tired Tim! It’s sad for him. 


40 


UP AND DOWN 





MIMA 


JEMIMA is my name, 
But oh, I have another; 
My father always calls me Meg, 
And so do Bob and mother; 
Only my sister, jealous of 
The strands of my bright hair, 
‘Jemima—Mima—Mima!’ 
Calls, mocking, up the stair. 


AI 


PEAGOGK ;PIE 


THE CUPBOARD 


I know a little cupboard, 

With a teeny tiny key, 

And there’s a jar of Lollypops 
For me, me, me. 


It has a little shelf, my dear, 
As dark as dark can be, 
And there’s a dish of Banbury Cakes 


For me, me, me. 


I have a small fat grandmamma, 

With a very slippery knee, 

And she’s Keeper of the Cupboard, 
With the key, key, key. 


And when I’m very good, my dear, 

As good as good can be, 

There’s Banbury Cakes and Lollypops 
For me, me, me. 


42 


We 
Carin | | 
4; yy) 
RA |! 
t) 
Nay 


t 


DN W/E 
(i 


4 
pe Lay 
AN 


ye aii ) 
Lili 
Se] (Xs 
ET TSS 
Mies Re 
eee = 





43 








BOYS AND GIRLS 


PEACOCK PIE 


THEN 


Twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, 
A hundred years ago, 
All through the night with lantern bright 
The Watch trudged to and fro. 
And little boys tucked snug abed 
Would wake from dreams to hear— 
“Two o’ the morning by the clock, 
And the stars a-shining clear!’ 

Or, when across the chimney-tops 
Screamed shrill a North-East gale, 
A faint and shaken voice would shout, 

“Three! and a storm of hail!’ 


46 






ony 





Sci 


47 


WH, 








THE QUARTETTE 


Tom sang for joy and Ned sang for joy and old Sam 
sang for joy; 

All we four boys piped up loud, just like one boy; 

And the ladies that sate with the Squire—their cheeks 
were all wet, 

For the noise of the voice of us boys, when we sang 
our Quartette. 


Tom he piped low and Ned he piped low and old Sam 
he piped low; 

Into a sorrowful fall did our music flow; 

And the ladies that sate with the Squire vowed they’d 
never forget 

How the eyes of them cried for delight, when we sang 
our Quartette. 


49 


PEACOCK PIE 


POOR HENRY 


THICK in its glass 
The physic stands, 
Poor Henry lifts 
Distracted hands; 
His round cheek wans 
In the candlelight, 
To smell that smell! 
To see that sight! 


Finger and thumb 
Clinch his small nose, 
A gurgle, a gasp, 
And down it goes; 
Scowls Henry now; 
But mark that cheek, 
Sleek with the bloom 
Of health next week! 


50 






be 


Ih =e 

} A t(D) ») 

AN a Fa AK »} i, eX 

yt! SAU A We, 

i caus = SS sy | h ' 
peut) LA} )) 

‘| i We id, a 





, 






=o 






| 
if 
ye 4) 


tee 
By A ne 
he 
Wikulitstt 
l “ 
Wat Here 
i Ii 
(4 
t 
| 
| 


i 





is 


G 
Can 
= 
é Be eee 
py. SS rien SS 


5! 


ON | 
fog eg URBANE 








+ sa y OBS a 
Yt GG teh Ee nt 
De 1 Zee, . GLb 408 YEG a 

é intitle 7) Z 


ss 2 
Le 

kK 

ot 


BY NY Ci Cae ey eae 
B pu & 
ra KZ e A, 44 sti 4 * 
ae Festet P G4 ZB 4 Bx": 
, Ne’ Aart Sipe / Sn wa 
ime ZB OCG pMegye: 
cs, A sy Gi see ee 
- hy ve 
( ; at : LA Lig aA 
: bts 1h: 
ae Yi fa as Z Gras 
S oY Hl 7 Ye % Z 
5. oO y, j ¢ 


? Z 
“a % ee iy LD 
Go di es % 4 
A pe nin Diya 
te: “Bey yg 
PPS MA OPMPLE SE 
Ud Wry" LZ 9 
Pa td Le, 74, i. pe 
LA Sy ose 
Wifi” Bees 
a * . s & 
a 


WHe 


THE LOST SHOE 


Poor little Lucy 
By some mischance, 
Lost her shoe 
As she did dance: 
*Twas not on the stairs 
Not in the hall; 
Not where they sat 
At supper at all. 


53 


PEA CO Gike7 EE 


She looked in the garden, 
But there it was not; 
Henhouse, or kennel, 
Or high dovecote. 
Dairy and meadow, 
And wild woods through 
Showed not a trace 
Of Lucy’s shoe. 
Bird nor bunny 
Nor glimmering moon 
Breathed a whisper 
Of where ’twas gone. 
It was cried and cried 
Oyez and Oyez! 
In French, Dutch, Latin, 
And Portuguese. 
Ships the dark seas 
Went plunging through, 
But none brought news 
Of Lucy’s shoe; 
And still she patters 
In silk and leather, 
O’er snow, sand, shingle 
In every weather; 
Spain, and Africa, 
Hindustan, 
Java, China, 
And lamped Japan; 


54 


BOYS AND GIRLS 


Plain and desert, 
She hops—hops through, 
Pernambuco 
To gold Peru; 
Mountain and forest, 
And river too, 
All the world over 
For her lost shoe. 





PEACOCK PIE 


FULL MOON 


OnE night as Dick lay half asleep, 
Into his drowsy eyes 

A great still light began to creep 
From out the silent skies. 

It was the lovely moon’s, for when 
He raised his dreamy head, 

Her surge of silver filled the pane 
And streamed across his bed. 

So, for awhile, each gazed at each— 
Dick and the solemn moon— 

Till, climbing slowly on her way, 
She vanished, and was gone. 


56 


x i wl i we 





vl 


LIBRARY 
DNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIs 
URBANA 





THE TRUANTS 


ERE my heart beats too coldly and faintly 
To remember sad things, yet be gay, 
I would sing a brief song of the world’s little children 
Magic hath stolen away. 


The primroses scattered by April, 
The stars of the wide Milky Way, 
Cannot outnumber the hosts of the children 
Magic hath stolen away. 


me 


POR A COG Pace 


The buttercup green of the meadows, 
The snow of the blossoming may, 
Lovelier are not than the legions of children 
Magic hath stolen away. 


The waves tossing surf in the moonbeam, 
The albatross lone on the spray, 
Alone know the tears wept in vain for the children 
Magic hath stolen away. 


In vain: for at hush of the evening, 
When the stars twinkle into the grey, 
Seems to echo the far-away calling of children 
Magic hath stolen away. 





THE WINDOW 


Beuinp the blinds I sit and watch 
The people passing—passing by; 
And not a single one can see 

My tiny watching eye. 


They cannot see my little room, 

All yellowed with the shaded sun; 

They do not even know I’m here; 
Nor’ll guess when I am gone. 


61 








i 5 A 
YA Bay 
SU V's 
ba On Tey 


c< 


62 


BOYS AND, GERLS 


MISTLETOE 


SITTING under the mistletoe 
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe), 

One last candle burning low, 

All the sleepy dancers gone, 

Just one candle burning on, 

Shadows lurking everywhere: 

Some one came, and kissed me there. 


Tired I was; my head would go 
Nodding under the mistletoe 
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe), 

No footsteps came, no voice, but only, 
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely, 
Stooped in the still and shadowy air 
Lips unseen—and kissed me there. 


63 


PoE ALC Or Gke er les 


THE BOOKWORM 


‘I’m tired—oh, tired of books,’ said Jack, 
‘I long for meadows green, 

And woods where shadowy violets 
Nod their cool leaves between; 

I long to see the ploughman stride 
His darkening acres o’er, 

To hear the hoarse sea-waters drive 
Their billows ’gainst the shore; 

I long to watch the sea-mew wheel 


Back to her rock-perched mate; 
Or, where the breathing cows are housed, 
Lean dreaming o’er the gate. 
Something has gone, and ink and print 
Will never bring it back; 
I long for the green fields again, 
I’m tired of books,’ said Jack. 


64. 





LIBRARY 
GNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
URBANA 






UU. 





NMHC 


TMREE QUEER, TALES 










at) 
WY Ja o* 
t) \ 
Rt 
YARN 
, 


t 
') 


. 
y 
H 


ie 





68 


DERE OUPERA GALES 


BERRIES 


THERE was an old woman 
Went blackberry picking 
Along the hedges 
From Weep to Wicking. 
Half a pottle— 
No more she had got, 
When out steps a Fairy 
From her green grot; 
And says, ‘Well, Jill, 
Would ’ee pick ’ee mo?’ 
And Jill, she curtseys, 
And looks just so. 
‘Be off,’ says the Fairy, 
‘As quick as you can, 
Over the meadows 
To the little green lane, 
That dips to the hayfields 
Of Farmer Grimes; 
I’ve berried those hedges 
A score of times; 
Bushel on bushel 
I’ll promise ’ee, Jill. 


69 


PEACO GK, Rabe 


This side of supper 
If ’ee pick with a will.’ 
She glints very bright, 
And speaks her fair; 
Then lo, and behold! 
She had faded in air. 


Be sure Old Goodie 
She trots betimes 
Over the meadows 
To Farmer Grimes. 
And never was queen 
With jewellery rich 
As those same hedges 
From twig to ditch; 
Like Dutchmen’s coffers, 
Fruit, thorn, and flower— 
They shone like William 
And Mary’s Bower. 
And be sure Old Goodie 
Went back to Weep, 
So tired with her basket 
She scarce could creep. 


When she comes in the dusk 
To her cottage door, 
There’s Towser wagging 
As never before, 


790 


THREE OUBER “TALES 


To see his Missus 
So glad to be 
Come from her fruit-picking 
Back to he. 
As soon as next morning 
Dawn was grey, 
The pot on the hob 
Was simmering away; 
And all in a stew 
And a hugger-mugger 
Towser and Jill 
A-boiling of sugar, 
And the dark clear fruit 
That from Faérie came, 
For syrup and jelly 
And blackberry jam 


Twelve jolly gallipots 
Jill put by; 
And one little teeny one, 
One inch high; 
And that she’s hidden 
A good thumb deep, 
Half way over 
From Wicking to Weep. 


71 





72 


WWE REE? OEE RAPA LES 


OFF THE GROUND 


THREE jolly Farmers 

Once bet a pound 5 
Each dance the others would 
Off the ground. 

Out of their coats 

They slipped right soon, 
And neat and nicesome, 

Put each his shoon. 
One—Two—Three!— 

And away they go, 

Not too fast, 

And not too slow; 

Out from the elm-tree’s 
Noonday shadow, 

Into the sun, 

And across the meadow. 
Past the schoolroom, 

With knees well bent 
Fingers a-flicking, 

They dancing went. 


73 


PEACO GK? Pale 


Up sides and over, 

And round and round, 
They crossed click-clacking, 
The Parish bound, 

By Tupman’s meadow 
They did their mile, 
Tee-to-tum 

On a three-barred stile. 
Then straight through Whipham, 
Downhill to Week, 

Footing it lightsome, 

But not too quick, 

Up fields to Watchet, 

And on through Wye, 

Till seven fine churches 
They’d seen skip by— 
Seven fine churches, 

And five old mills, 

Farms in the valley, 

And sheep on the hills; 

Old Man’s Acre 

And Dead Man’s Pool 

All left behind, 

As they danced through Wool. 
And Wool gone by, 

Like tops that seem 

To spin in sleep 

They danced in dream: 
Withy—Wellover— 


74 


THREE QUEER TALES 


Wassop—Wo— 

Like an old clock 

Their heels did go. 

A league and a league 
And a league they went, 
And not one weary, 

And not one spent. 

And lo, and behold! 

Past Willow-cum-Leigh 
Stretched with its waters 
The great green sea. 

Says Farmer Bates, 

‘I puffs and I blows, 
What’s under the water, 
Why, no man knows!’ 
Says Farmer Giles, 

‘My wind comes weak, 
And a good man drownded 
Is far to seek.’ 

But Farmer 'Turvey, 

On twirling toes 

Up’s with his gaiters, 

And in he goes: 

Down where the mermaids 
Pluck and play 

On their twangling harps 
In a sea-green day; 

Down where the mermaids, 
Finned and fair, 


75 


PEACOCK PIE 


Sleek with their combs 
Their yellow hair. . . 
Bates and Giles— 

On the shingle sat, 

Gazing at Turvey’s 
Floating hat. 

But never a ripple 

Nor bubble told 

Where he was supping 

Off plates of gold. 

Never an echo 

Rilled through the sea 

Of the feasting and dancing 
And ministrelsy. 

They called—called—called: 
Came no reply: 

Nought but the ripples’ 
Sandy sigh. 

Then glum and silent 

They sat instead, 

Vacantly brooding 

On home and bed, 

Till both together 

Stood up and said:— 

‘Us knows not, dreams not, 
Where you be, 

Turvey, unless 

In the deep blue sea; 

But axcusing silver— 


76 


eRe OWRE RR TALES 


And it comes most willing— 
Here’s us two paying 

Our forty shilling; 

For it’s sartin sure, Furvey, 
Safe and sound, 

You danced us square, Turvey, 


Off the ground!’ 


77 


PEA CO.CC RP GE 





THE THIEF AT ROBIN’S CASTLE 


THERE came a Thief one night to Robin’s Castle, 
He climbed up into a Tree; 

And sitting with his head among the branches, 
A wondrous Sight did see. 


For there was Robin supping at his table, 
With Candles of pure Wax, 

His Dame and his two beauteous little Children, 
With Velvet on their backs. 


73. 


Weir OUR RE TALES 


Platters for each there were shin-shining, 
Of Silver many a pound, 

And all of beaten Gold, three brimming Goblets, 
Standing the table round. 


The smell that rose up richly from the Baked Meats 
Came thinning amid the boughs, 

And much that greedy Thief who snuffed the night air 
His Hunger did arouse. 


He watched them eating, drinking, laughing, talking, 
Busy with finger and spoon, 

While three most cunning Fiddlers, clad in crimson, 
Played them a supper-tune. 


And he waited in the tree-top like a Starling, 
Till the Moon was gotten low; 

When all the windows in the walls were darkened, 
He softly in did go. 


There Robin and his Dame in bed were sleeping, 
And his Children young and fair; 

Only Robin’s Hounds from their warm kennels 
Yelped as he climbed the stair. 


All, all were sleeping, page and fiddler, 
Cook, scullion, free from care; 

Only Robin’s Stallions from their stables 
Neighed as he climbed the stair. 


79 


PEACOCK PIE 


A wee wan light the Moon did shed him, 
Hanging above the sea, 

And he counted into his bag (of beaten Silver) 
Platters thirty-three. 


Of Spoons three score; of jolly golden Goblets 
He stowed in four save one, 
And six fine three-branched Cupid Candlesticks, 


Before his work was done. 


Nine bulging bags of Money in a cupboard, 
Two Snuffers, and a Dish _ 

He found, the last all studded with great Garnets 
And shapen like a Fish. 


Then tiptoe up he stole into a Chamber, 
Where on Tasselled Pillows lay 

Robin and his Dame in dreaming slumber, 
Tired with the summer’s day. 


That Thief he mimbled round him in the gloaming, 
Their Treasures for to spy, 
Combs, Brooches, Chains, and Rings, and Pins and 
Buckles 


All higgledy piggle-dy. 


A Watch shaped in the shape of a flat Apple 
In purest Crystal set, 

He lifted from the hook where it was ticking 
And crammed in his Pochette. 


80 


THREE QUEER “l°-ALES 


He heaped the pretty Baubles on the table, 
Trinkets, Knick-knackerie, 

Pearls, Diamonds, Sapphires, Topazes, and Opals— 
All in his bag put he. 


And there in night’s pale Gloom was Robin dreaming 
He was hunting the mountain Bear, 

While his Dame in peaceful slumber in no wise heeded 
A greedy Thief was there. 


And that ravenous Thief he climbed up even higher, 
Till into a chamber small 

He crept where lay poor Robin’s beauteous Children, 
Lovelier in sleep withal. 


Of, fairer was their Hair than Gold of Goblet, 
’Yond Silver their Cheeks did shine, 
And their little hands that lay upon the linen 
Made that Thief’s hard heart to pine. 


But though a moment there his hard heart faltered, 
Eftsoones he took them twain, 

And slipped them into his Bag with all his Plunder 
And soft stole down again. 


Spoon, Platter, Goblet, Ducats, Dishes, Trinkets, 
And those two Children dear, 
A-quaking, in the clinking and the clanking, 
And half bemused with fear, 
SI 


PEAIGO CR -Pae 


He carried down the stairs into the Courtyard, 
But there he made no stay, 

He just tied up his Garters, took a deep breath 
And ran like the wind away. 


Past Forest, River, Mountain, River, Forest— 
He coursed the whole night through, 

Till morning found him come into a Country, 
Where none his bad face knew. 


Past Mountain, River, Forest, River, Mountain— 
That Thief’s lean shanks sped on, 

Till Evening found him knocking at a Dark House, 
His breath now well-nigh gone. 


There came a little maid and asked his Business; 
A Cobbler dwelt within; 

And though she much misliked the Bag he carried, 
She led the Bad Man in. | 


He bargained with the Cobbler for a lodging 
And soft laid down his Sack— 

In the Dead of Night, with none to spy or listen,— 
From off his weary back. 


And he taught the little Chicks to call him Father, 
And he sold his stolen Pelf, 
And bought a Palace, Horses, Slaves, and Peacocks 
To ease his wicked self. 
82 


THREE QUEER TALES 


And though the Children never really loved him, 
He was rich past all belief; 

While Robin and his Dame o’er Delf and Pewter 
Spent all their Days in Grief. 


83 








PLAGES IND PEOPLE 





86 


PUAGES “ANDY REOPLE 


A WIDOW’S WEEDS 


A poor old Widow in her weeds 

Sowed her garden with wild-flower seeds; 
Not too shallow, and not too deep, 

And down came April—drip—drip—drip. 
Up shone May, like gold, and soon 

Green as an arbour grew leafy June. 

And now all summer she sits and sews 
Where willow herb, comfrey, bugloss blows, 
Teasle and tansy, meadowsweet, 

Campion, toadflax, and rough hawksbit; 
Brown bee orchis, and Peals of Bells; 
Clover, burnet, and thyme she smells; 

Like Oberon’s meadows her garden is 
Drowsy from dawn to dusk with bees. 
Weeps she never, but sometimes sighs, 
And peeps at her garden with bright brown eyes; 
And all she has is all she needs— 

A poor old Widow in her weeds. 


a 


22, 


PEACOCK PTE 


‘SOOEEP!?’ 


BLAcK as a chimney is his face, 
And ivory white his teeth, 

And in his brass-bound cart he rides, 
The chestnut blooms beneath. 


‘Sooeep, Sooeep!’ he cries, and brightly peers 
This way and that, to see 

With his two-light-blue shining eyes 
What custom there may be. 


And once inside the house, he’ll squat, 
And drive his rods on high, 

Till twirls his sudden sooty brush 
Against the morning sky. 


Then, ’mid his bulging bags of soot, 
With half the world asleep, 

His small cart wheels him off again, 
Still hoarsely bawling, ‘Sooeep!’ 


88 


= 
BA 
v4 


HA) 





PEA GO GK 2P VE 





Bi i Hl 
| Weeeeet of 
nie 


THE LITTLE GREEN ORCHARD 


SOME one is always sitting there, 
In the little green orchard; 
Even when the sun is high 
In noon’s unclouded sky, 
And faintly droning goes 
The bee from rose to rose, 
Some one in shadow is sitting there, 
In the little green orchard. 


99 


PLACES SAND APEOPLE 


Yes, and when twilight’s falling softly 
On the little green orchard; 
When the grey dew distils 
And every flower-cup fills; 
When the last blackbird says, 
“What—what!’ and goes her way—ssh! 
I have heard voices calling softly 
In the little green orchard. 


Not that I am afraid of being there, 
In the little green orchard; 
Why, when the moon’s been bright, 
Shedding her lonesome light, 
And moths like ghosties come, 
And the horned snail leaves home: 
I’ve sat there, whispering and listening there, 
In the little green orchard. 


Only it’s strange to be feeling there, 
In the little green orchard; 
Whether you paint or draw, e 
Dig, hammer, chop, or saw; 
When you are most alone, 
All but the silence gone... . 
Some one is waiting and watching there, 
In the little green orchard. 


gr 


PEA GOGK @P Ee 


THE OLD HOUSE 


A vERY, very old house I know— 
And ever so many people go, 

Past the small lodge, forlorn and still, 
Under the heavy branches, till 

Comes the blank wall, and there’s the door. 
Go in they do; come out no more. 

No voice says ought: no spark of light 
Across that threshold cheers the sight; 
Only the evening star on high 

Less lonely makes a lonely sky, 

As, one by one, the people go 

Into that very old house I know. 


92 


° 


i y 


BtiG 
Vi i 


4 


is Ms non 
Race nor erat; 
\ at 1 


me fe ; ) Fitted hy in 

hi iY NAG iN f AG 
BAN KUL UNO MERAH 
ua che 
Le WwW 


\V 
‘ In 


z aN v! 
Veer 


KS 


a 


Aut) 


TANS 

BH 

NR CORY 

ES 

x 
WS 


\ 


yoy ‘\ Wh 
RUN NLL 
Made 
AKON 


eWay 
ANNA AAS 


\ 


“yi Ny 
Re er AP \ 
SW a 


«: 
os 




















at 

the WHR 
_ooy* 

CH 

SESH 
Op 





















7 a a i |p (i 
ut han eed It ial 4 
bash lint 
Au (it a eto 
4 ¢ Ag af 



















AI 


\ 





i 


Lone and alone she lies, 
Poor Miss 7, 
Five steep flights from the earth, 
And one from heaven; 
Dark hair and dark brown eyes,— 
Not to be sad she tries, 
Still—still it’s lonely lies 
Poor Miss 7. 


95 


PEAGOGK ra 


One day-long watch hath she, 
Poor Miss 7, 

Not in some orchard sweet 
In April Devon,— 

Just four blank walls to see, 

And dark comes shadowily, 

No moon, no stars, ah me! 


Poor Miss 7. 


And then to wake again, 
Poor Miss 7, 
To the cold night, to have 
Sour physic given; 
Out of some dream of pain, 
Then strive long hours in vain 
Deep dreamless sleep to gain: 


Poor Miss 7. 


Yet memory softly sings 
Poor Miss 7 
Songs full of love and peace 
And gladness even; 
Clear flowers and tiny wings, 
All tender, lovely things, 
Hope to her bosom brings— 
Happy Miss 7. 


96 


Sei 
ey Ld 





SAM 
WHEN Sam goes back in memory, 
It is where the sea 
Breaks on the shingle, emerald-green, 
In white foam, endlessly; 


24: 


PEA GO Keak 


He says—with small brown eye on mine— 
‘I used to keep awake, 

And lean from my window in the moon, 
Watching those billows break. 

And half a million tiny hands, 
And eyes, like sparks of frost, 

Would dance and come tumbling into the moon, 
On every breaker tossed. 

And all across from star to star, 
I’ve seen the watery sea, 

With not a single ship in sight, 
Just ocean there, and me; 

And heard my father snore. And once, 
As sure as I’m alive, 

Out of those wallowing, moon-flecked waves 
I saw a mermaid dive; 

Head and shoulders above the wave, 
Plain as I now see you, 

Combing her hair, now back, now front, 
Her two eyes peeping through; 

Calling me, “Sam!”’—quietlike—“‘Sam!” ... 
But me... I never went, 

Making believe I kind of thought 
"Twas some one else she meant. . . 

Wonderful lovely there she sat, 
Singing the night away. 

All in the solitudinous sea 
Of that there lonely bay. 


98 


PE rs “ANDO REOPLE 


‘P’raps,’ and he’d smooth his hairless mouth, 
‘P’raps, if *twere now, my son, 

Pirapsett Lineard a voice says oAInl 4s. 
Morning would find me gone.’ 





99 


PEA GO GK PIE 


THE LITTLE OLD CUPID 


"Twas a very small garden; 
The paths were of stone, 

Scattered with leaves, 
With moss overgrown; 

And a little old Cupid 
Stood under a tree, 

With a small broken bow 


He stood aiming at me. 


The dog-rose in briars 
Hung over the weeds, 
The air was aflock 
With the floating of seeds; 
And a little old Cupid 
Stood under a tree, 
With a small broken bow 
He stood aiming at me. 


The dovecote was tumbling, 
The fountain dry, 

A wind in the orchard 
Went whispering by; 

And a little old Cupid 
Stood under a tree, 

With a small broken bow 
He stood aiming at me. 


100 


Fe, 


O24 PRA a ttt 5 eri ’ Ad 
is *, « Layee fxJ See ae ue Roda . - Se 
KG PRN REE SP 
eis 3 : i ae hey 3 * i 


eee ae tee 


~ 











MRS. MACQUEEN 


(OR THE LOLLIE-SHOP) 


Wirth glass like a bull’s eye, 
And shutters of green, 
Down on the cobbles 


Lives Mrs. MacQueen. 
103 


PEA G@GOCGK 2Ble 


At six she rises; 
At nine you see 
Her candle shine out 
In the linden tree: 


And at half-past nine 
Not a sound is nigh, 

But the bright moon’s creeping 
Across the sky; 


Or a far dog baying; 
Or a twittering bird 
In its drowsy nest, 
In the darkness stirred; 


Or like the roar 
Of a distant sea 

A long-drawn S-s-sh! 
In the linden tree. 


104 . 


Eee ES, (AND? PEO PLE 





ANDY BATTLE 


Once and there was a young sailor, yeo ho! 
And he sailed out over the say 
For the isles where pink coral and palm branches blow, 
And the fire-flies turn night into day, 
Yeo ho! 
And the fire-flies turn night into day. 


105 


PEACOCK “PIE 


But the Dolphin went down in a tempest, yeo ho! 
And with three forsook sailors ashore, 
The Portingales took him where sugar-canes grow, 
Their slave for to be evermore, 
Yeo ho! 


Their slave for to be evermore. 


With his musket for mother and brother, yeo ho! 
He warred with the Cannibals drear, 
In forests where panthers pad soft to and fro, 
And the Pongo shakes noonday with fear, 
Yeo ho! 


And the Pongo shakes noonday with fear. 
Now lean with long travail, all wasted with woe, 
With a monkey for messmate and friend, 
He sits ’neath the Cross in the cankering snow, 
And waits for his sorrowful end, 
Yeo ho! 


And waits for his sorrowful end. 


106 


PA rer h S.e7e Neb hr EO PE E 





SOLDIER 


THEOL 
THERE came an Old Soldier to my door, 


Asked a crust, and asked no more; 


107 


The wars had thinned him very bare, 
Fighting and marching everywhere, 


With a Fol rol dol rol di do. 


PRA GO CK Salk 


With nose stuck out, and cheek sunk in, 

A bristling beard upon his chin— 

Powder and bullets and wounds and drums 
Had come to that Soldier as suchlike comes— 


With a Fol rol dol rol di do. 


"Twas sweet and fresh with buds of May, 
Flowers springing from every spray 
And when he had supped the Old Soldier trolled 
The song of youth that never grows old, 

Called Fol rol dol rol di do. 


Most of him rags, and all of him lean, 

And the belt round his belly drawn tightsome in, 
He lifted his peaked old grizzled head, 

And these were the very same words he said— 


A Fol-rol-dol-rol-di-do. 


108 


PLACES AND PEOPLE 





THis PICTURE 


HERE is a sea-legged sailor, 
Come to this tottering Inn, 

Just when the bronze on its signboard is fading, 
And the black shades of evening begin. 


109 


PEACOCK We 


With his head on thick paws sleeps a sheep-dog, 
There stoops the Shepherd, and see, 

All follow-my-leader the ducks waddle homeward, 
Under the sycamore tree. 


Very brown is the face of the Sailor, 
His bundle is crimson, and green 
Are the thick leafy boughs that hang dense o’er the 
Tavern, 
And blue the far meadows between. 


But the Crust, Ale and Cheese of the Sailor, 
His Mug and his platter of Delf, 
And the crescent to light home the Shepherd and Sheep- 
dog 
The painter has kept to himself. 


110 


Pe ACES oA ND, PEOPLE 





KING DAVID 


Kinc Davip was a sorrowful man; 
No cause for his sorrow had he; 
And he called for the music of a hundred harps, 
To ease his melancholy. 


They played till they all fell silent: 
Played—and play sweet did they; 
But the sorrow that haunted the heart of King David 
They could not charm away. 


III 


PEACOGK PIE 


He rose; and in his garden 
Walked by the moon alone, 
A nightingale hidden in a cypress-tree 
Jargoned on and on. 


King David lifted his sad eyes 
Into the dark-boughed tree— 
‘Tell me, thou little bird that singest, 
Who taught my grief to thee?’ 


But the bird in no wise heeded; 
And the king in the cool of the moon 
Hearkened to the nightingale’s sorrowfulness 
Till all his own was gone. 


II2 





PEA COC Ky Rae 


FIVE EYES 


In Hans’ old Mill his three black cats 

Watch the bins for the thieving rats. 
Whisker and claw, they crouch in the night, 
Their five eyes smouldering green and bright: 
Squeaks from the flour sacks, squeaks from where 
The cold wind stirs on the empty stair, 
Squeaking and scampering, everywhere. 
Then down they pounce, now in, now out, 
At whisking tail, and sniffing snout; 

While lean old Hans he snores away 

Till peep of light at break of day; 

Then up he climbs to his creaking mill, 

Out come his cats all grey with meal— 
Jekkel, and Jessup, and one-eyed Jill. 


114 





11s 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
URBANA 





Low on his fours the Lion 
Treads with the surly Bear; 

But Men straight upward from the dust 
Walk with their heads in air; 

The free sweet winds of heaven, 
The sunlight from on high 

Beat on their clear bright cheeks and brows 
As they go striding by; 

The doors of all their houses 
They arch so they may go, 

Uplifted o’er the four-feet beasts, 
Unstooping, to and fro. 


117 


PEVA' CO Ga Pale 


yy 


fp Yor \\\ hh 
NZ; { (i Ky 
Yi fy N\\\ WW 
WU 


by, 
Lh 





Y 
Y 


NICHOLAS NYE 


THISTLE and darnel and dock grew there, 
And a bush, in the corner, of may, 

On the orchard wall I used to sprawl, 
In the blazing heat of the day; 

Half asleep and half awake, 
While the birds went twittering by, 

And nobody there my lone to share 
But Nicholas Nye. 

Nicholas Nye was lean and grey, 
Lame of a leg and old, 

More than a score of donkey’s years 
He had seen since he was foaled; 


118 


BEASTS 


He munched the thistles, purple and spiked, 
Would sometimes stoop and sigh, 

And turn to his head, as if he said, 
‘Poor Nicholas Nye!’ 


Alone with his shadows he’d drowse in the meadow, 
Lazily swinging his tail, 

At break of day he used to bray,— 
Not much too hearty and hale; 

But a wonderful gumption was under his skin, 
And a clear calm light in his eye, 

And once in a while: he’d smile:— 


Would Nicholas Nye. 


Seem to be smiling at me, he would, 
From his bush, in the corner, of may,— 
Bony and ownerless, widowed and worn, 
Knobble-kneed, lonely and grey; 
And over the grass would seem to pass 
’Neath the deep dark blue of the sky, 
Something much better than words between me 


And Nicholas Nye. 


But dusk would come in the apple boughs, 
The green of the glow-worm shine, 
The birds in nest would crouch to rest, 
And home I’d trudge to mine; 
And there, in the moonlight, dark with dew, 
Asking not wherefore nor why, 
Would brood like a ghost, and as still as a post, 
Old Nicholas Nye. 
IIQ 


PEACOCK PIE 





ALL BUT BLIND 


Aut but blind 
In his chambered hole 


Gropes for worms 


The four-clawed Mole. 


All but blind 
In the evening sky, 
The hooded Bat 
Twirls softly by. 


120 


BEASTS 


All but blind 
In the burning day 
The Barn-Owl blunders 
On her way. 


And blind as are 
These three to me, 
So, blind to Some-one 

I must be. 





I2I 


PEAG@GO Gh eh lk 





GRIM 


Besip_E the blaze of forty fires 
Giant Grim doth sit, 

Roasting a thick-wooled mountain sheep 
Upon an iron spit. 

Above him wheels the winter sky, 
Beneath him, fathoms deep, 

Lies hidden in the valley mists 
A village fast asleep— 

Save for one restive hungry dog 
That, snuffing towards the height, 

Smells Grim’s boiled supper-meat, and spies 
His watchfire twinkling bright. 


122 


BEASTS 


THE PIGS AND THE CHARCOAL BURNER 


TuE old Pig said to the little pigs, 
‘In the forest is truffles and mast, 

Follow me then, all ye little pigs, 
Follow me fast!’ 


The Charcoal-burner sat in the shade 
With his chin on his thumb, 

And saw the big Pig and the little pigs, 
Chuffling come. 


He watched ’neath a green and giant bough, 
And the pigs in the ground 

Made a wonderful grisling and gruzzling 
And greedy sound. 


And when, full-fed, they were gone, and Night 
Walked her starry ways, 

He stared with his cheeks in his hands 
At his sullen blaze. 





: 


\ A \ \\ Yi, ; 
At, A \\ \\ ( 
\\\\ \\\ i 
I ql 
j : j 


i 





TTT: FOR. TAT 


Have you been catching of fish, Tom Noddy? 
Have you snared a weeping hare? 
Have you whistled, ‘No Nunny,’ and gunned a poor 
bunny, 
Or a blinded bird of the air? 
Have you trod like a murderer through the green woods, 
Through the dewy deep dingles and glooms, 
While every small creature screamed shrill to Dame 
Nature, 
‘He comes—and he comes!’? 


124 


BEASTS 
Wonder I very much do, Tom Noddy, 


If ever, when you are a-roam, 
An Ogre from space will stoop a lean face, 
And lug you home: 


Lug you home over his fence, Tom Noddy, 
Of thorn-stocks nine yards high, 

With your bent knees strung round his old iron gun 
And your head dan-dangling by: 


And hang you up stiff on a hook, Tom Noddy, 
From a stone-cold pantry shelf, 

Whence your eyes will glare in an empty stare, 
Till you are cooked yourself! 


125 


PEA CO Cher LE 





SUMMER EVENING 


THE sandy cat by the Farmer’s chair 
Mews at his knee for dainty fare; 

Old Rover in his moss-greened house 
Mumbles a bone, and barks at a mouse. 
In the dewy fields the cattle lie 
Chewing the cud ’neath a fading sky. 
Dobbin at manger pulls his hay: 

Gone is another summer’s day. 


126 


BEASTS 
EARTH FOLK 


THE cat she walks on padded claws, 
The wolf on the hills lays stealthy paws 
Feathered birds in the rain-sweet sky 

At their ease in the air, flit low, flit high. 


The oak’s blind, tender roots pierce deep, 
His green crest towers, dimmed in sleep, 
Under the stars whose thrones are set 
Where never prince hath journeyed yet. 











WITCHES AND EAIRIES 








130 


WITCHES AND FAIRIES 


LONGLEGS 


LoncLEeGs—he yelled ‘Coo-ee!’ 
And all across the combe 

Shrill and shrill it rang—rang through 
The clear green gloom. 

Fairies there were a-spinning, 
And a white tree-maid 

Lifted her eyes, and listened 
In her rain-sweet glade. 

Bunnie to bunnie stamped; old Wat 
Chin-deep in bracken sate; 

A throstle piped, ‘I’m by, ?m by!’ 
Clear to his timid mate. 

And there was Longlegs straddling, 
And hearkening was he, 

To distant Echo thrilling back 
A thin ‘Coo-ee!’ 


131 


PEACOCK PIE 


THE RIDE-BY-NIGHTS 


Up on their brooms the Witches stream, 

Crooked and black in the crescent’s gleam; 

One foot high, and one foot low, 

Bearded, cloaked, and cowled, they go. 

"Neath Charlie’s Wane they twitter and tweet, 
And away they swarm ’neath the Dragon’s feet. 
With a whoop and a flutter they swing and sway, 
And surge pell-mell down the Milky Way. 
Betwixt the legs of the glittering Chair. 

They hover and squeak in the empty air. 

Then round they swoop past the glimmering Lion 
To where Sirius barks behind huge Orion; 

Up, then, and over to wheel amain, 

Under the silver, and home again. 


132 









N SS — % 


ms eh 
Pee: sy 
faa 


— CS 


Wny.R. 


133 


ce “un en SEY OF ILLINOIS as 


—— = 


URBANA 





Water ES AND hATR IES 





THE RUIN 


WHEN the last colours of the day 

Have from their burning ebbed away, 
About that ruin, cold and lone, 

The cricket shrills from stone to stone; 
And scattering o’er its darkened green, 
Bands of the fairies may be seen, 
Chattering like grasshoppers, their feet 
Dancing a thistledown dance round it: 
While the great gold of the mild moon 
Tinges their tiny acorn shoon. 


135 


PEACOCK PIE 
BEWITCHED 


I nave heard a lady this night, 
Lissom and jimp and slim, 
Calling me—calling me over the heather, 


’Neath the beech boughs dusk and dim. 


I have followed a lady this night, 
Followed her far and lone, 

Fox and adder and weasel know 
The ways that we have gone. 


I sit at my supper ’mid honest faces, 
And crumble my crust and say 

Nought in the long-drawn drawl of the voices 
Talking the hours away. 


I’ll go to my chamber under the gable, 
And the moon will lift her light 

In at my lattice from over the moorland 
Hollow and still and bright. 


And I know she will shine on a lady of witchcraft, 
Gladness and grief to see, 

Who has taken my heart with her nimble fingers, 
Calls in my dreams to me; 


Who has led me a dance by dell and dingle 
My human soul to win, 

Made me a changeling to my own, own mother, 
A stranger to my kin. 


136 


We 
(assy 


< 
Let 
ye 
ee 


7 
inp NS 
Mz ) 


ROBINSON] is 
ST 


pA TE PN OME NES SG ee 
Re NE Leg i hail 
VERRAN SNA DMO GN Pi MS gL 


eS 


a 





= 
awed 


eSiTY OF ILLINOIS. 


UNIVE 


¥ 








MELMILLO 


TuREE and thirty birds there stood 
In an elder in a wood; 

Called Melmillo—flew off three, 
Leaving thirty in the tree; 

Called Melmillo—nine now gone, 
And the boughs held twenty-one; 
Called Melmillo—and eighteen 

Left but three to nod and preen; 
Called Melmillo—three—two—one— 
Now of birds were feathers none. 


Then stole slim Melmillo in 

To that wood all dusk and green, 
And with lean long palms outspread 
Softly a strange dance did tread; 
Not a note of music she 

Had for echoing company; 

All the birds were flown to rest 

In the hollow of her breast; 

In the wood—thorn, elder, willow— 
Danced alone—lone danced Melmillo. 


139 


PEACOCK PIE 


PEAK AND PUKE 


From his cradle in the glamourie 
They have stolen my wee brother, 
Housed a changeling in his swaddlings 
For to fret mine own poor mother. 
Pules it in the candle light 

Wi’ a cheek so lean and white, 
Chinkling up its eyne so wee 

Wailing shrill at her an’ me. 

It we’ll neither rock nor tend 

Till the Silent Silent send, 

Lapping in their waesome arms 

Him they stole with spells and charms, 
Till they take this changeling creature 
Back to its own fairy nature— 

Cry! Cry! as long as may be, 

Ye shall ne’er be woman’s baby! 


140 





141 


uh: *RARY 
unwvessity OF ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


Walle Ga BSc ACN Dar FASE R LES 


—_ : 
Sea 


De ets : 





Mh A) RU V/A 


THE OLD STONE HOUSE 


Notuinc on the grey roof, nothing on the brown; 
Only a little greening where the rain drips down; 
Nobody at the window, nobody at the door, 

Only a little hollow which a foot once wore; 

But still I tread on tiptoe, still tiptoe on I go, 

Past nettles, porch, and weedy well, for oh, I know 

A friendless face is peering, and a clear still eye 

Peeps closely through the casement as my step goes by. 


143 





THE CHANGELING 


‘Anoy, and ahoy!’ 

*Twixt mocking and merry— 
‘Ahoy and ahoy, there, 

Young man of the ferry!’ 


She stood on the steps 
In the watery gloom— 

That Changeling—‘ Ahoy, there 
She called him to come. 

He came on the green wave, 
He came on the grey, 

Where stooped that sweet lady 
That still summer’s day. 

He fell in a dream 
Of her beautiful face, 

As she sat on the thwart 
And smiled in her place. 


144 


Wel eGR onGA Nba beAYT RTE’S 


No echo his oar woke, 
Float silent did they, 
Past low-gazing cattle 
In the sweet of the hay. 
And still in a dream 
At her beauty sat he, 
Drifting stern foremost 
Down—down to the sea. 


Come you, then: call, 
When the twilight apace 
Brings shadow to brood 
On the loveliest face; 
You shall hear o’er the water 
Ring faint in the grey— 
‘Ahoy, and ahoy, there!’ 
And tremble away; 
WADOV Pan aAnOy tac. 
And tremble away. 


2 


145 


MiNi 





T THE KEYHOLE 


‘GRILL me some bones,’ said the Cobbler, 
‘Some bones, my pretty Sue; 

I’m tired of my lonesome with heels and soles, 

Springsides and uppers too; 

A mouse in the wainscot is nibbling; 

A wind in the keyhole drones; 

And a sheet webbed over my candle, Susie, 

Grill me some bones!’ 


‘Grill me some bones,’ said the Cobbler, 

‘I sat at my tic-tac-to; 
And a footstep came to my door and stopped, 
And a hand groped to and fro; 
And I peered up over my boot and last; 
And my feet went cold as stones :— 
I saw an eye at the keyhole, Susie!— 

Grill me some bones!’ 


146 








THE HONEY ROBBERS 


THERE were two Fairies, Gimmul and Mel, 
Loved Earth Man’s honey passing well; 
Oft at the hives of his tame bees 

They would their sugary thirst appease. 


When even began to darken to night, 
They would hie along in the fading light, 
With elf-locked hair and scarlet lips, 
And small stone knives to slit the skeps, 
So softly not a bee inside 

Should hear the woven straw divide. 
And then with sly and greedy thumbs 
Would rifle the sweet honeycombs. 


147 


PECA-G © Gike Pel 


And drowsily drone to drone would say, 

‘A cold, cold wind blows in this way’; 

And the great Queen would turn her head 
From face to face astonished, 

And, though her maids with comb and brush 
Would comb and soothe and whisper, ‘Hush!’ 
About the hive would shrilly go 

A keening—keening to and fro; 

At which those robbers ’neath the trees 
Would taunt and mock the honey-bees, 

And through their sticky teeth would buzz 
Just as an angry hornet does. 


And when this Gimmul and this Mel 

Had munched and sucked and swilled their fill, 
Or ever Man’s first cock could crow 

Back to their Faérie Mounds they’d go, 
Edging across the twilight air, 

Thieves of a guise remotely fair. 


148 


WEEGHES AND FAIRIES 


=)y 
(Cee 
8) 





THE MOCKING FAIRY 


‘Won’r you look out of your window, Mrs. Gill?’ 
Quoth the Fairy, nidding, nodding in the garden; 

‘Can’t you look out of your window, Mrs. Gill?’ 
Quoth the Fairy, laughing softly in the garden; 

But the air was still, the cherry boughs were still, 

And the ivy-tod ’neath the empty sill, : 

And never from her window looked out Mrs. Gill 
On the Fairy shrilly mocking in the garden. 


149 


PIESA CO CK Eek 


‘What have they done with you, you poor Mrs. Gill?’ 
Quoth the Fairy brightly glancing in the garden; 
“Where have they hidden you, you poor old Mrs. Gill?’ 
Quoth the Fairy dancing lightly in the garden; 

But night’s faint veil now wrapped the hill, 

Stark ’neath the stars stood the dead-still Mill, 

And out of her cold cottage never answered Mrs. Gill 
The Fairy mimbling mambling in the garden. 


150 















Ny » Se : 





EARTM AND AlIR9 





152 


EARTH AND AIR 
MANY A MICKLE 


A LITTLE sound— 

Only a little, a little— 

The breath in a reed, 

A trembling fiddle; 

The trumpet’s ring, 

The shuddering drum; 

So all the glory, bravery, hush 
Of music come. 


A little sound— 

Only a stir and a sigh 

Of each green leaf 

Its fluttering neighbour by; 

Oak on to oak, 

The wide dark forest through— 
So o’er the watery wheeling world 
The night winds go. : 


A little sound, 

Only a little, a little— 

The thin high drone 

Of the simmering kettle, 

The gathering frost, 

The click of needle and thread; 
Mother, the fading wall, the dream, 
The drowsy bed. 


153 





TREES 


Or all the trees in England, 
Her sweet three corners in, 


Only the Ash, the bonnie Ash, 


Burns fierce while it is green. 


Of all the trees in England, 
From sea to sea again, 

The Willow loveliest stoops her boughs 
Beneath the driving rain. 


154 


EARTH AND AIR 


Of all the trees in England, 
Past frankincense and myrrh, 

There’s none for smell, of bloom and smoke, 
Like Lime and Juniper. 


Of all the trees in England, 
Oak, Elder, Elm and Thorn, 

The Yew alone burns lamps of peace 
For them that lie forlorn, 


155 


PEA COC Ke Pie 


NOBODY KNOWS 


OrTEN I’ve heard the Wind sigh 
By the ivied orchard wall, 

Over the leaves in the dark night, 
Breathe a sighing call, 

And faint away in the silence, 
While I, in my bed, 

Wondered, *twixt dreaming and waking, 


What it said. 


Nobody knows what the Wind is, 
Under the height of the sky, 
Where the hosts of the stars keep far away house 
And its wave sweeps by— 
Just a great wave of the air, 
Tossing the leaves in its sea, 
And foaming under the eaves of the roof 
That covers me. 


And so we live under deep water, 
All of us, beasts and men, 

And our bodies are buried down under the sand, 
When we go again; 

And leave, like the fishes, our shells, 
And float, on the Wind and away, 

To where, o’er the marvellous tides of the air, 

Burns day. 


156 























0° 2353 Ae 
es = VS. 
oe TEAS 
Pha) 


i 
Fs 
Oo 
td 
** ° e 
e 
} e 
ei» 


FRY: 


















9 e 7 j ¢ : ie 

& i ne Alt eH 
Uae i ee 7 

Cryer 8, Vue 3 Easy 

1 AINE TAHA 8 - bar 

ae Ss te 

ig: 9 

BSAr OG a | 











9) ‘ate Shee, 
WH NaI MTR EAT 
Bae | 
i AAW nal : 
HRC (CRE 


ANRAMiRER 








SILVER 
SLOWLY, silently, now the moon 
Walks the night in her silver shoon; 
This way, and that, she peers, and sees 
Silver fruit upon silver trees; 
One by one the casements catch 
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch; 
Couched in his kennel, like a log, 
With paws of silver sleeps the dog; 
From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep 
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep; 
A harvest mouse goes scampering by, 
With silver claws, and silver eye; 
And moveless fish in the water gleam, 
By silver reeds in a silver stream. 


159 


PEACOCK PIE 


WILL EVER? 


Witt he ever be weary of wandering, 
The flaming sun? 

Ever weary of waning in lovelight, 
The white still moon? 

Will ever a shepherd come 
With a crook of simple gold, 

And lead all the little stars 
Like lambs to the fold? 


Will ever the Wanderer sail 
From over the sea, 

Up the river of water, 
To the stones to me? 

Will he take us all into his ship, 
Dreaming, and waft us far, 

To where in the clouds of the West, 
The Islands are? 


160 





ty BARY 
UMIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


EARTH AND AIR 





WANDERERS 


WinE are the meadows of night, 
And daisies are shining there, 
Tossing their lovely dews, 
Lustrous and fair; 

And through these sweet fields go, 
Wanderers amid the stars— 
Venus, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, 
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars. 


Tired in their silver, they move, 

And circling, whisper and say, 

Fair are the blossoming meads of delight 
Through which we stray. 


163 


sh hae +t. 
Ea ee, San a 
‘Ree Re Ge 


we 











166 


SONGS 


THE SONG OF THE SECRET 


WHERE is beauty? 
Gone, gone: 

The cold winds have taken it 
With their faint moan; 

The white stars have shaken it, 
Trembling down, 

Into the pathless deeps of the sea: 

Gone, gone 

Is beauty from me. 


The clear naked flower 
Is faded and dead; 
The green-leafed willow, | 
Drooping her head, 
Whispers low to the shade 
Of her boughs in the stream, 
Sighing a beauty, 
Secret as dream. 


167 


PEACOCK PIE 





THE SONG OF SOLDIERS 


As I sat musing by the frozen dyke, 

‘There was one man marching with a bright steel pike, 

Marching in the dayshine like a ghost came he, 

And behind me was the moaning and the murmur of the 
sea. 


As I sat musing, ’twas not one but ten— 

Rank on rank of ghostly soldiers marching o’er the fen, 

Marching in the misty air they showed in dreams to me, 

And behind me was the shouting and the shattering of 
the sea. 


As I sat musing, ’twas a host in dark array, 

With their horses and their cannon wheeling onward to 
the fray, 

Moving like a shadow to the fate the brave must dree, 

And behind me roared the drums, rang the trumpets of 
the sea. 


168 


SONGS 








THE BEES’ SONG 


THouzanpbz of thornz there be 
On the Rozez where gozez 
The Zebra of Zee: 

Sleek, striped, and hairy, 

The steed of the Fairy 
Princess of Zee. 


169 


PE AC OG kee P aE 


Heavy with blozzomz be 
The Rozez that growzez 
In the thickets of Zee, 
Where grazez the Zebra, 
Marked Abracadeeebra 
Of the Princess of Zee. 


And he nozez the poziez 

Of the Rozez that growzez 

So luvez’m and free, 

With an eye, dark and wary, 
In search of a Fairy, 

Whose Rozez he knowzez 
Were not honeyed for he, 

But to breathe a sweet incense 
To solace the Princess 

Of far-away Zee. 


170 






5 4, 
ay) F% 
Ka J 
SR 
G st 
Ya XK 
a, 
vA NSS 
eo 


TE 22 


S 


» s MND) $9 4A, : 2 
: Lye Oye ayy , 
© COKE as he TAL ai 
qs Z =! dy, 47 1% V4, %. rs oy Mt 
Df Bey uf*s3) A 
M, ~ ’ 


A SONG OF ENCHANTMENT 


A Sone of Enchantment I sang me there, 
In a green—green wood, by waters fair, 
Just as the words came up to me 

I sang it under the wild wood tree. 


Widdershins turned I, singing it low, 
Watching the wild birds come and go; 
No cloud in the deep dark blue to be seen 
Under the thick-thatched branches green. 


Twilight came; silence came; 

The planet of Evening’s silver flame; 
By darkening paths I wandered through 
Thickets trembling with drops of dew. 


But the music is lost and the words are gone 
Of the song I sang as I sat alone, 

Ages and ages have fallen on me— 

On the wood and the pool and the elder tree. 


17I 


PEACO Cheer LE 


DREAM-SONG 


SUNLIGHT, moonlight, 
Twilight, starlight— 
Gloaming at the close of day, 
And an owl calling, 

Cool dews falling 
In a wood of oak and may. 


Lantern-light, taper-light, 

Torch-light, no-light: 
Darkness at the shut of day, 

And lions roaring, 

Their wrath pouring : 
In wild waste places far away. 


Elf-light, bat-light, 
Touchwood-light and toad-light, 
And the sea a shimmering gloom of grey, 

And a small face smiling 
In a dream’s beguiling 
In a world of wonders far away. 


172 





173 





174 


SONGS 


THE SONG OF THE MAD PRINCE 


Who said, ‘Peacock Pie’? 
The old King to the sparrow: 
Who said, ‘Crops are ripe’? 
Rust to the harrow: 
Who said, ‘Where sleeps she now? 
Where rests she now her head, 
Bathed in eve’s loveliness?’ ?— 


That’s what I said. 


Who said, ‘Ay, mum’s the word’? 
Sexton to willow: 

Who said, ‘Green dusk for dreams, 
Moss for a pillow’? 

Who said, ‘All Time’s delight 
Hath she for narrow bed; 

Life’s troubled bubble broken’? 
That’s what I said. 


175 


PEA CGO Gk eRie 


THE SONG OF SHADOWS 


SWEEP thy faint strings, Musician, 
With thy long lean hand; 
Downward the starry tapers burn, 
Sinks soft the waning sand; 
The old hound whimpers couched in sleep, 
The embers smoulder low; 
Across the walls the shadows 
Come, and go. 


Sweep softly thy strings, Musician, 
The minutes mount to hours; 

Frost on the windless casement weaves 
A labyrinth of flowers; 

Ghosts linger in the darkening air, 
Hearken at the open door; 

Music hath called them, dreaming, 

Home once more. 


176 


Se Oe z, 
ORS Sk ate Pate 


a. 


Os chi 





7 


17 


PEACOCK PIE 


THE SONG OF FINIS 


At the edge of All the Ages 
A Knight sate on his steed, 
His armour red and thin with rust, 
His soul from sorrow freed; 
And he lifted up his visor 
From a face of skin and bone, 
And his horse turned head and whinnied 
As the twain stood there alone. 


No bird above that steep of time 
Sang of a livelong quest; 

No wind breathed, 
Rest: 

‘Lone for an end!’ cried Knight to steed, 
Loosed an eager rein— 

Charged with his challenge into Space: 

And quiet did quiet remain. 


178 





FINIS 


‘ ieaaey 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS | 
URBANA 





























ll 


041804425 


| 


ITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 


) 


ie 
Ww 
= 
2 <= 
5 





NE Re RTE TL PELE PR ROOT ET CONTE . 

Ne ese ee ie adaniaiandeaamanaethiadtnantndaeinieiiien 

Cee ee eee cul cdhaniaaacanaranasrisasshoaaymneranhmmctaaudatNs eases 
SR ee ee ee na nde amistad 


